Human Impact Project

Victor Cruz, a 56-year-old handyman from Portland, Oregon, was arrested without a warrant by ICE agents and held for 24 days at the Tacoma detention center. An immigration judge granted him a bond hearing and he was released in October 2025. He won his immigration case in February 2026.

Jessica Crystal Lira, a 22-year-old transgender woman and Nicaraguan citizen, was re-detained by ICE on May 22, 2026 during a scheduled check-in and transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center (NWIPC) in Tacoma, Washington. Despite identifying as a woman, she was housed in a male detention unit, where she experienced verbal harassment and feared for her safety. She filed suit, captioned Lira v. Mullin, seeking emergency relief. The court granted her motion for a temporary restraining order, enjoining officials from housing her in a male detention unit or solitary confinement, and ordered that she either be moved to appropriate housing or released within 24 hours.

Three activists—Jac Archer, Justice Forral, and Bajun Mavalwalla II—were convicted on federal conspiracy charges on May 28, 2025, for their roles in a June 2025 protest at an ICE facility in Spokane aimed at preventing the transfer of two detained asylum seekers to a facility near Tacoma. The three defendants were among nine people arrested on federal charges stemming from the protest, which involved hundreds of demonstrators who blocked ICE vehicles for approximately nine hours. Six other protesters, including former City Council President Ben Stuckart who posted the social media call that mobilized the demonstration, accepted guilty pleas and received reduced sentences. The three convicted defendants face up to six years in prison and fines up to $250,000, and plan to appeal.

Ernesto, a construction worker, was detained by ICE on December 10 while traveling to his job in Washington, DC. He was transferred to a detention center in Texas, leaving his wife Ana and their three children (ages 3, 7, and 8) without their primary source of income. Ana now works nights as a university cleaner and relies on a moped for transportation while struggling to afford rent, groceries, medical bills, and legal fees.

Senior Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Trump administration violated a December court order restricting warrantless immigration arrests in Washington, D.C. The judge found that an ICE memo providing guidance to agents on when to arrest without a warrant did not properly comply with her earlier order, using a flawed definition of "escape risk" and ignoring requirements to consider community ties. The ruling came after the ACLU of DC sued the administration alleging federal agents had been indiscriminately arresting Washington residents perceived to be Latino without warrants.

José 'Poni' Góngora Poot, a cook who worked at Portland restaurant Güero for a decade, was detained by ICE agents on May 8 while driving to work near his home. He was removed from his vehicle and taken into custody. Góngora Poot is being held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington. A GoFundMe fundraiser was created to support him, raising over $30,000.

ICE Seattle took six people into custody who have serious criminal histories and are in the country without authorization, pending their removal. Those arrested include Miguel Salamanca-Alverez from Mexico with a felony conviction for five counts of assault; Angel Negrete-Villalobos with a felony conviction for first-degree assault and protective order violations; Alfredo Gallegos-Guillen with a history of assault arrests; Karla Daniela Gallegos-Holguin with a 2025 felony conviction for bringing methamphetamine into the country; and Bounlay Siackasorn from Laos with felony convictions for dealing meth, burglary, and theft.

Kennedy Orwa, a PhD student in the University of Washington's Information School researching AI applications in health systems, was detained by Customs and Border Protection at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on April 7 and deported the following day along with his 13-year-old son. CBP claimed Orwa had previously worked without work authorization, though Orwa was not allowed to consult with a lawyer before being put on a flight to Kenya. UW stated it had connected Orwa's family with legal resources and contacts at relevant embassies.

Washington state won a federal court ruling in November 2025 allowing health inspections at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, operated by private contractor GEO Group. However, state inspectors have been denied entry nine times since 2023, including after the court ruling. Advocacy groups report over 3,500 detainee complaints including concerns about religious accommodations during Ramadan, food quality, and medical care.

A man with no criminal record and no standing deportation order was arrested by nine plainclothes, masked ICE agents at the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building housing the Seattle Immigration Court on Tuesday while attending a hearing on his asylum petition. His attorney, Eilish Villa Malone, documented the arrest on video. The man, who fled to the U.S. seeking asylum after being kidnapped at age 16 and forced to work for criminal organizations in his home country, was in court for what was supposed to be the final step in his asylum case when he was apprehended and taken to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma. His attorney plans to file a habeas petition challenging the arrest as unlawful, noting this marks the only known ICE courthouse arrest in Seattle since early summer 2025.

A pregnant Venezuelan woman was arrested by ICE while traveling to a medical center in Seattle. Her 10-month-old baby was also taken into ICE custody during the operation. According to local police, the arrest was executed by the Department of Homeland Security based on a criminal court order allegedly related to human trafficking allegations, not immigration violations.

Two people were arrested during a "No Kings" protest at Riverfront Park near an ICE facility in downtown Spokane. An 18-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly taking a Trump flag from a counterprotester, and a 32-year-old man was arrested for assaulting an officer who was attempting to detain the woman. The incident lasted approximately five minutes and involved a brief physical altercation between police and protesters.

Kevin Ntabo, a Kenyan-born father of four living in Edmond, Washington, was detained by ICE at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in December 2025 after returning from Kenya where he attended his father's funeral. Officials flagged his immigration status as irregular upon arrival. He was held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma awaiting a court hearing scheduled for March 17, 2026, to determine whether he would be deported or allowed to remain with his wife and four children.

Aliya Rahman, a U.S. citizen from Minneapolis with autism and traumatic brain injury, was arrested by Capitol Police while attending the State of the Union as a guest of Rep. Ilhan Omar. The federal government announced it will not file charges against her. Rahman claims she was arrested for standing silently in the gallery; Capitol Police say she refused to obey lawful orders.

A Venezuelan man with a U.S. citizen son was detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, despite having been previously released by ICE. Court records indicate ICE reassessed his tattoos as a basis for re-detention. He was among at least 16 asylum seekers released by federal court order after successful litigation challenging their detention.

A former career public servant from Afghanistan who fled violence and was granted work authorization to work as a supermarket cashier and Uber driver was among at least 16 asylum seekers detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, and later released by federal court order. The detention was based on alleged violations of the Intensive Supervision Appearance program.

A Russian asylum seeker who fled persecution over refusing to participate in Russia's invasion of Ukraine was among at least 16 asylum seekers detained at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, and later released by federal court order. The detention was based on alleged violations of the Intensive Supervision Appearance program.

Wilfredo Castillo, a Venezuelan who fled political persecution and violence, was arrested at an immigration check-in appointment in Tukwila in March 2025 after being told by ICE he would be detained. ICE claimed he missed nine SmartLink app check-ins, but Castillo says the app malfunctioned and he never missed in-person appointments. He spent 11 months at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, where he was stabbed multiple times by another detainee. A federal judge released him after finding the government lacked justification for his prolonged detention.

Jefferson Fernando Cando Llano, 29, a father of a 6-year-old boy seeking asylum from Ecuador, was detained by masked Border Patrol agents in unmarked vehicles at a laundromat parking lot in Browne's Addition, Spokane on March 8. Cando Llano came to Spokane three years ago with his wife to escape trauma and violence in Ecuador and has an open asylum case with no criminal record. Friends who witnessed the encounter could not identify the agents and filed a missing persons report with Spokane police, fearing a kidnapping. Cando Llano was held for 10 days at Kootenai County Jail before being released after his attorney filed an appeal against a removal order issued by an immigration judge. The incident raised concerns among local police about the use of unmarked vehicles and masks by federal agents in immigration enforcement operations.

Zahid Chaudhry, a disabled U.S. Army veteran and lawful permanent resident from Pakistan, was detained by ICE at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma in August 2025 after being arrested during a citizenship interview at a USCIS office. ICE cited undisclosed criminal charges from Australia in the early 1990s involving financial deception and passport-related offenses. After 124 days in custody, a federal judge ruled the detention was wrongful, finding that the government failed to provide Chaudhry notice or opportunity to be heard before detaining him, violating his constitutional rights. A government attorney apologized during the habeas hearing. In December 2025, Judge David G. Estudillo ordered Chaudhry's release.